THERE were wildly different reactions to this week's news that retail giant Sainsbury's had pulled the plug on its bid to build a new store in Dorking town centre.
The company revealed late on Friday that its three-year bid to develop the area behind the St Martin's Walk shopping arcade – which could have meant the demolition of flats in Church Gardens and the recently opened Malthouse youth centre – had failed.
A company spokesman told the Advertiser: "Mole Valley District Council and Sainsbury's have been in discussion with the other landowners, Surrey County Council and Mole Valley Housing Association, and have regretfully concluded that, despite the best efforts of all concerned, a viable scheme cannot be delivered on the proposed site.
"We are deeply disappointed at this outcome but want to reassure our customers that we will continue to give them the best possible service from our existing High Street store while we look for wider solutions to bring a new Sainsbury's store to Dorking."
John Northcott, the district council's planning portfolio holder, was similarly downbeat.
He said: "It is very disappointing that this particular proposal cannot be developed, but the council remains fully committed to improving supermarket provision in that part of the town.
"This provision will save many of our local residents from having to do their weekly shop in other towns outside the district, and will ensure the future vitality of the beautiful market town that is Dorking."
Sainsbury's had outlined plans for a 3,250 sq m store on the site – identified in the council's Area Action Plan (AAP) as a "primary shopping area" – but never submitted a formal planning application.
News of the scheme's withdrawal was greeted with jubilation by St Martin's Walk cafe owner Ashley Baker, who last year collected a 1,200-signature petition in opposition.
"It's great news for Dorking," he said. "They were doing this not for the benefit of Dorking but just for a company to make lots of money.
"If they had looked at the facts, they would have seen it was not really possible unless there was a relief road.
"They were going to destroy the town by trying to get something in there that plainly wasn't going to work."
Sally Elias, of residents' group Transition Dorking, said it was good to end the lingering uncertainty the development had cast over the town.
She said: "I hope this will free Dorking to think of other ways of developing. This has been stopping any creative solutions because everybody's saying, 'We'll wait for the big boys to make a decision'."
"We have to come up with something very different and I think there is a possibility for that now."
Fellow group member Jacquetta Fewster, who stood as a Green Party candidate in this month's county elections, said she was "absolutely delighted" by the news.
"It's really encouraging that Sainsbury's is going to look at ways to improve its current store rather than going for a new build," she said.
"Obviously this is a more sustainable approach and better for local businesses."
Dorking Town Centre Forum chairman Margaret Cooksey said her members had been left "dumbfounded".
She said: "There have always been anxieties about the youth centre and the people living in the Church Gardens flats and there were very clear guidelines put into the AAP with respect to both.
"Clearly Sainsbury's have found those issues to be insurmountable. The anxiety now is where they might look for another site.
"If there were to be a new site identified on the edge of, or out of, town, then it would be a very dangerous situation for the town as a whole.
"We simply can't afford to have the economic activity shifted away from the centre at this point, and we don't know when it's going to get better."
See page 11 for the latest on Tesco's plans to build stores in Dorking and Ashtead.
